Worker complaints tip of iceberg: union leader

Monday, 6 July 2015

Wage complaints made under legislation designed to guard workers are just the 'tip of the iceberg', a union leader says.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data revealed Hutt Valley workers made 11 complaints under the Wages Protection Act and 13 under the Minimum Wage Act between July 2012 and late-June this year.

The figures were released to Hutt News under the Official Information Act.

Council of Trade Union president Helen Kelly said she stood by comments made in a rival publication that complaints would only be 'the tip of the iceberg' of the number of law breaches.

'That's only the people who can actually get through and complain and feel confident in doing that,' she said.

'These are the worst forms of exploitation in New Zealand as the minimum code, which employees rely on, is being broken.'

In the Hutt Valley, as nationwide, complaints tended to come from workers in the accommodation and food services, followed by retail roles and manufacturing.

Ms Kelly was not surprised: 'It's the vulnerable workers - migrants and students - that suffer the most …'

Hutt Valley employment lawyer Mike Gould, from Gibson Sheat, considered the numbers were small over the three-year period and felt the valley's employers were doing well.

He had heard very few complaints under the Minimum Wage Act, which sets the minimum pay for those over 16 at $14.75 an hour, because employers typically understood they were required to pay the minimum wage.

The Act could also be contravened if deductions mean employees end up with less than the hourly minimum for hours worked.

However he had heard of issues arising under the Wages Protection Act, which prevents unlawful deductions from wages, particularly in regard to employers deducting money owed from of an employee's holiday pay when

they leave without the employee's permission.

The Act states employers can make deductions only when an employee has agreed to or requested the deduction in writing.

This can be varied or withdrawn at any time - even if the original consent was included in an employment agreement.

Gould believed some employers might not have been aware that they were not allowed to simply withhold what was owed, while some employees probably accepted that they needed to pay what was owed and had moved on.

Concerned employees could seek advice from a Citizens Advice Bureau or Community Law office.

Nationwide, 1910 complaints were made to the ministry under the Minimum Wage Act between July 2012 and February this year.

A further 733 complaints were made under the Wages Protection Act during the same period.

The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector drew the biggest number of complaints; topping a table of 19 industries for the number of complaints relating to the Minimum Wage Act and coming second in complaints under the Wages Protection Act.

Least complained against were wholesale trade, arts and recreation services and information, media and telecommunications, sectors with only three between them.